Wicklow Sinn Féin Councillors to boycott meeting with Irish Water

Wicklow Sinn Féin County Councillors are to boycott a meeting with Irish Water on February 2 and urge all other Wicklow Councillors to do likewise.

Speaking at Monday’s meeting of Wicklow County Council Cllr. Brady said "Unfortunately after numerous requests for representatives from Irish Water to attend and answer questions from Councillors at a full council meeting, they have responded by refusing to meet in a public forum, but have said they will hold a number of clinic type meetings behind closed doors with Councillors on February 2”.

Cllr Brady continued “I believe that the refusal of Irish Water officials to meet the democratically elected representatives of the people of Wicklow in a public forum is not just disrespectful to the councillors, but it’s giving a two fingered salute to the public whose taxes were used to establish the monster that is Irish Water”.

“The Sinn Féin team of six Wicklow County Councillors has decided to boycott the meetings with Irish Water. It’s planned that councillors from the five municipal districts will be given 45 minutes per district to put questions to the officials from Irish Water on February 2, they will be held behind closed doors in secret at the council buildings. Sinn Féin will boycott the meetings and we have called on all the other councillors to do likewise”.

Cllr Brady concluded “Irish Water is toxic. It should be scrapped along with the government’s water charges. The planned meetings are an attempt to manipulate councillors into accepting an organisation that has no public credibility. In November Wicklow County Council supported and passed a Sinn Féin motion calling on the government to scrap water charges, halt water metering and to abolish Irish Water. Boycotting the private meetings in February will send a strong message to both the Government and Irish water that it’s not business as usual”. Ends

Serious questions need to be answered on the water shut off from Vartry Reservoir in Roundwood to Wicklow

Wicklow Sinn Féin Councillor John Brady has raised serious concerns in relation to the water shut off in the northeastern part of Wicklow. Water from the Vartry Water Treatment plant in Roundwood has been effected by water production problems since Thursday last and residents have had water pressure reduced or shut off since then. A recurrence of last years algae problem at the reservoir appears to be the problem.

Cllr Brady said "I have been inundated with calls and emails from residents from the Enniskerry, Kilmacanogue and Kilpedder areas who have either had reduced or no water since Thursday of last week. They have had no information on the nature of the problem or how long its expected to last. The Vartry reservoir in Roundwood is controlled by Dublin City Council and unfortunately residents have been kept in the dark on this problem as there seems to be a breakdown in communications between Dublin and Wicklow Councils. The seriousness of the problem seems to have escalated over the weekend and many areas now have no water. Little or no information is coming for either Wicklowor Dublin councils to residents and this needs to change".

Cllr Brady went on to say "I have spoken to engineers who have said that the problem is an algae bloom on the reservoir, this is a recurrence of the problem that effected the water supply this time last year. The problem went on for a numbers of weeks and effected many homes and business's leaving many without water for lengthily periods. It is incredible that one year on residents are now left in the same situation and still completely in the dark". 

"Not only do the residents and businesses need the water back immediately, A number of questions need to be answered as to how this problem can occur again within a year? and what preventative measures have been taken by Dublin City Council to stop the problem?" continued Brady.

The councillor concluded "I have asked for a suspension of standing orders at today's County Council meeting to discuss this very important issue. Its not acceptable in this day and age that people are left without any water, this comes at a time when water meters are being installed to try force people to pay for water. I will be requesting that more water tankers are made available in all effected areas to ensure everyone has access to clean water and that Wicklow is not adversely effected by the water being cut or reduced to ensure County Dublin's water supply is maintained. Ultimately this problem needs to be resolved as quickly as possible and that it doesn't happen again, i will also be having the issue raised in the Dáil to ensure that the Minister and Irish Water are also made aware to ensure its resolved". 

Local and European Elections will be a referendum on Water Charges

Sinn Fein councillor John Brady has stated that the electorate have a key opportunity to send Fine Gael and Labour a loud and clear message of no thanks to water charges in the elections in May.  He made the call after it was revealed that Regulators will set water charges in August, meaning consumers will not know how much they will have to pay for water until after the local and European elections in May.

The councillor stated “Already Fine Gael and Labour have handed over of Billions of Euro in national assets to the monster that is Irish Water. Irish Water has already paid out €50m on consultancy fees and it’s expected that at least another €30m on consultants will further be spent. The news this week however that exact charges to be imposed on the public won’t be revealed until after the European and Local elections is pure and utter political cowardice born out of the fear of the backlash the electorate will unleash on them on polling day”.

Brady continued “The idea of water charges and metering was first put forward by Fianna Fáil in their National Recovery Plan in 2011. This was enthusiastically pursued by Fine Gael and Labour who are imposing these new stealth taxes on the hard pressed Irish people. The fact that they won’t reveal the cost to be imposed on the people shows that this government has no back bone or indeed courage of their convictions to reveal them and try to justify them”.

“That won’t reveal them because they can’t justify or defend the indefensible. Currently half the Country is under water and the notion that we have to pay for the water again is a slap in the face for common sense.  The reluctance to revel the charges is an attempt to try save seats at the elections because both Labour and Fine Gael know and fear the backlash that these charges will bring”. Continued Brady

He finished by saying “The Irish people are very intelligent and educated when it comes to elections. I know many will use the elections in May as a referendum on Labour and Fine Gael and their austerity policies. I know many people will use the opportunity to send a clear message to them that they don’t want and can’t afford water charges. These charges coupled with the property tax will push people over the edge and lead to more misery and tough decisions by hard hit individuals and families”.

Bray Town Councillors vote for Water Charges and Rent Increases in Budget

Bray Sinn Féin Councillors John Brady and Rossa Murray have cristised their fellow Councillors for eagerly supporting the town council budget for 2014. The Budget sees €1.48 Million of locally collected Property Tax money been diverted away from providing local services and handed to Irish Water to install water meters to start charging for water. The budget also increased to minimum rent for council tenants by 25% and introduced a gas boiler levy. 

Speaking after Tuesdays council meeting Councillor Brady said "The people of Bray did not give me or any other councillor a mandate to introduce water charges. The council budget that was introduced at Tuesdays council meeting does the dirty work for Phil Hogan and ensures that the process of forcing people to pay another stealth tax will begin after the local elections."

Brady continued "Myself and my party colleague Rossa Murray voted against the budget because we were asked to complete the lie that all property tax money would go to provide local services. The simple fact is the Bray budget has seen a reduction of €1.48million in the funding from the government out of the property tax money collected, this money was diverted away from providing the promised services to Irish Water so they can install water meters. The adopted budget doesn't provide for any new badly needed social housing units to address the housing crisis that exists."

Cllr Murray went onto say "Another reason why we voted against the budget was the decision to increase the minimum rent for council tenants by 25% and to introduce a levy on tenants to have their boilers serviced. This is the responsibility of the council and not all tenants will be levied weekly to have their boilers serviced annually, up onto now the council had carried this service out as the landlord. The decision by the councillors to increase council rents is a retrograde step that will hit some of the most vulnerable in our society the hardest and force more families into debt and arrears."

"Even though i did vote against the overall budget there was a positive element to it that i supported. That was the introduction of a grant to help sporting organisations in the town out. I had initially proposed the establishment of this fund at a previous meeting, it is designed to help the many excellent clubs out around the town, many of which are struggling to raise funding for insurance, registration and equipment. The fund of €80,000 will be open to all clubs to apply to draw money from to help give them a leg up and a lifeline. I welcome the fact that my proposal has been acted upon and supported." continued Brady

He concluded by saying "Unfortunately the negatives greatly outweigh the positives in the budget, that is why we voted against it. It was was carried 9 votes to 2, Sinn Féin being to only party to oppose it. The budget was the last ever of Bray Town Council as the council is to be abolished in May. The councillors had an ideal opportunity to send Phil Hogan and the government a message that his austerity budget is not welcome nor supported by the people. The budget vote was a vote for the transfer of a priceless asset which is water which belongs to the people of this country to Irish Water, and in turn it plans to put meters outside peoples homes using property tax money and charge them for the privilege of using this infrastructure. Sinn Féin could not and would not be part of any process that further screws the people of Bray." 

Unfair Wicklow County Council Budget Copper Fastens Use of Property Tax Funds to Install Water Meters

Wicklow Sinn Féin County Councillors John Brady and John Snell have voted against the county council budget for 2014 labelling it as grossly unfair and one that copper fastens the use of property tax monies collected in Wicklow to install water meters by Irish Water, paving the way for more stealth taxes.

Speaking after the meeting which was held on Monday Councillor John Brady said "Unfortunately the government parties of Fine Gael and Labour united again on Wicklow County Council to ensure a grossly unfair budget was adopted. The Wicklow county council budget has been decimated over the last number of years by the Government and this year was no different. The Local Government Fund given to the council has been reduced from last years allocation of €14.4m to €3.44m. Scandalously in the region of €11m has been given to Irish Water from the property tax that the people of Wicklow paid. This funding will allow Irish Water take control of the water services that the council had operated and also start the roll out of Domestic water metering in 2014".

Cllr Brady continued "Unfortunately the people of Wicklow have been sold another pup on this issue by the Government. People had been told that 100% of the property tax raised would fund local services in their area, this quickly changed to 80%, now we find that only about 22% of the hard earned money, reluctantly and on a lot of occasions unwillingly taken to pay the Property Tax will go towards funding local services. The remainder goes to Irish Water to install water meters, so more stealth taxes can be squeezed from the ordinary people of Wicklow who don't have it to give. Figures given at the meeting show that if 100% of the property tax was collected and given to the council it would amount to €16.5m, however the council is getting a mere €3.44m the remainder goes to Irish Water. We all remember the false promises and the fancy booklets that were given outlining the better services that would be forthcoming if people paid this tax. Unfortunately what has materialised is exactly what Sinn Féin and i predicted as just another money grab."

Cllr Brady went on to say "The other main reason why my party colleague John Snell and I voted against the Council Budget is the plan to increase rents for all council tenants, this includes the the increase of the basic minimum rent for those with very low incomes. It is planned to increase all rents by 3%, there are plans to do the same again next year. Unfortunately many council tenants live in social housing that needs major refurbishment including better insulation, windows and doors and they also need a system that will address problems and faults that occur in those houses, forcing higher rents on them is totally unjust. Many council tenants are in social housing because of financial reasons and are some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Only this week we seen figures that 14,000 Wicklow people are in food poverty, this will only serve to add more people to that list."

Cllr Brady concluded "Unfortunately the Government parties of Fine Gael and Labour joined forces at the council meeting to ensure the budget was passed by the narrowest of margins. This will ensure that the people of Wicklow get poorer services next year year whilst still paying the unfair and unjust Property Taxes. I am very confident however that these councillors in Fine Gael and Labour will be held to account for their actions in the Local Government Elections that take place in May 2014."